The Jammu and Kashmir administration started the process of distributing domicile certificates among people belonging to different sections who had been living in the Union Territory (UT) for the last seven decades but were deprived of their legitimate citizenship rights.
Eligibility for the Domicile Certificate
- All those persons and their children who have lived for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for seven years and appeared in class 10 or 12 examinations in an educational institution in the UT are eligible for domicile certificates.
- Children of central government officials, all India service officers, officials of PSUs and autonomous bodies of the central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, central universities and recognised research institutes of the Centre, who have served in Jammu of Kashmir for a total period of 10 years.
- All the migrants and their children who are registered with the relief and rehabilitation commissioner will be granted a domicile certificate.
- Children of those residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the Union Territory in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons have become eligible.
The new law is a major departure from the earlier position of law, under Article 35A of the Indian constitution and Section 6 of J&K constitution that empowered the J&K assembly to define a permanent resident of J&K. Article 370 and Article 35A barred non-locals and outsiders from seeking residency. Domicile certificates are mandatory for buying land, applying for jobs, and in educational institutes in J&K.
The new rules have empowered a tehsildar to issue such certificates in most cases and relief and rehabilitation commissioner in the case of migrants. The new process will allow West Pakistan refugees, safai karamcharis and children of women who married non-locals to apply for jobs.
